


it's a pirate's life for me

by mnibus



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, F/M, M/M, Mentions of alchohol, Pirates, Swearing, co-captains!, merchant!adam, more tags to come, pirate!gansey, pirate!ronan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 15:21:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19298431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mnibus/pseuds/mnibus
Summary: Ronan Lynch's life consisted of a circling routine of fighting merchants, plundering ships, spending the money they had plundered on booze, setting sail, finding merchants to fight, and plundering more ships.(Alternatively, Ronan and Gansey are co-captains of a pirate ship and stumble upon the rest of the Gangsey during their adventures.)





	it's a pirate's life for me

**Author's Note:**

> this work was spurred by me going to a museum about pirates and not being able to stop thinking about how ronan would fit in to the life of piracy! there were also other ways the characters seemed to fit into this alternate universe and thus this fic was born!

Ronan Lynch felt as though time was circular. His life consisted of a circling routine of fighting merchants, plundering ships, spending the money they had plundered on booze, setting sail, finding merchants to fight, and plundering more ships. It was a repetitive cycle only broken by the times his co-captain Gansey got them lost and they literally sailed in circles instead of only figuratively.

Ronan was a geyser where Gansey was a stream. He was full of a restless energy best put to use leading battles against enemy ships. Gansey was a consistent in Ronan’s life. From friendship to co-captainship his personality always gave Ronan direction either in life or navigating their vessel.

When Ronan had first said that he wanted to be a pirate Gansey had looked at him like he was crazy. He had said no one in their right mind would want to leave a life of relative royalty for a life of piracy, but in the end, he had followed Ronan anyways. He had handled the more menial tasks of what to stock the ship with and where to set sail while Ronan took charge of choosing a ship that made him feel at home and finding an outlet to put his restless energy.

The first time Ronan had stepped aboard _Cabeswater_ he had felt a sense of belonging that he had yet to feel prior. Despite growing up with relative wealth and position, Ronan had always felt like an outsider. The secrets he harbored seemed heavier on his shoulders around uptight nobles than they did now out on the vast sea. His brothers had always known he had a fervor that thrived on violence, but nothing could have prepared them for the shock of Ronan becoming a pirate. He knew his family also shared his propensity for secrets and that they would keep Ronan’s decisions and whereabouts close to their heart. And even though he felt more at peace at sea, some days he ached for his family.

At the current moment, his energy was pent up more restless than usual. They had been at sea for almost three months, and his blood itched to fight someone or something or to drink himself into a stupor. This is why he was tense as Gansey slung an arm around his shoulder and said, “We’ll come across another ship soon. I can feel it.”

Ronan found this comment particularly foolish and chose to respond with a scowl.

Gansey, ever the optimist, gave a gleeful smile in return. He turned out toward the sea where Ronan had been glaring and said, “It feels like there is a great adventure just beyond the horizon.”

Despite his annoyance with Gansey’s antics, he grunted a noise of agreement. Even though they had been on the water for quite some time, Ronan felt in his bones that a change was coming. “Gansey,” he stated, “We need to find that fucking adventure.” He needed it to calm the itch that was lodged under his skin. He needed it to give his life direction. He needed.

 

* * *

 

Adam Parrish wanted. He wanted another hour of sleep; he wanted a little more food to ease his hungry stomach; and more than anything he wanted to be off this damn boat.

Unfortunately, there were few employment options for men of Adam’s background, so he endured the harsh punishments and overall distasteful life at sea to pocket the small amount of money that he did make in hope of a better future. This melancholy line of thought rattled through his mind as he mopped the deck of the ship. It was menial work that was made more annoying by the sting in his side whenever he pushed the mop. A particularly harsh punishment that had left bruises on his side had made the past few days even more grueling.

On the exciting days aboard the ship, Adam held the position of a gunner. He viewed the positon with some exultation because it gave him a sense of purpose, but that view also harbored a sense of loathing for the loss of hearing in his left ear. He would never forget the day that cotton fell from his ear and the cannon went off with its deafening boom. Loathing the moments, minutes, hours afterwards where all he could hear from his left ear was an incessant ringing until gradually he could hear nothing from it at all.

This partial hearing meant the waves crashing under the boat were but a small white noise and that the birds cawing overheard were small blips of sound. It meant although Adam dimly heard the bell used for signals ring three times, it took longer for him to register what this meant. As the men around dropped what they were doing and rushed to more defensive jobs, he remembered that three rings meant pirates.

**Author's Note:**

> a relatively short chapter to set up the ways the characters fit into this scenario! i'm trying to make the information about pirates and merchant life as factual as i know from my small amount of knowledge and google but there obviously might be some facts that are not true. the chapters in the future should be longer as the story progresses!


End file.
